


Waterlily

by Starofwinter



Category: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, Post-Order 66, Queerplatonic Relationships, Unhappy Ending, burial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 08:09:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13337019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starofwinter/pseuds/Starofwinter
Summary: No mortal or immortal did deliver or defend you.All hands have forsaken you tonight.





	Waterlily

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [Waterlily](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gk6Zx-5LvI) by The Cottars.

_ He comes back every year at the same time, even if it's only for a day.  He goes to the little clearing and kneels in the grass, clearing plants and dirt off a small, flat stone, awkwardly carved with a name and the symbol of a fallen Order.  He leaves a bouquet of flowers, gathered by hand and tied with a gray ribbon. _

* * *

Aure can’t explain why he feels the need to go back to the clearing where they left the traitor’s body, but he takes a speeder bike anyway, leaving his men behind as he follows the tug.

Her body is where they left it, still and small.  She was always small, but she was never still; she was always moving, talking to one brother or another, planning battles, or healing someone even at personal cost, exhausting herself to keep them alive.  He can’t reconcile that with the knowledge that she was a  _ traitor _ , as the voice in his head screams.  She’d been so good.   _ He’d loved her.  _  That betrayal hurts the most.

Rán -  _ the traitor, _ the voice in his mind repeats - looks like she’s asleep, save for the blaster burn on her temple.  Close range, he remembered wanting to make it quick and easy for her.  For all that she and her brethren were traitors, she had been a good commander, and he didn’t want her to suffer needlessly.  

She hadn’t fought them, either, she’d just been  _ confused _ .  Confused and scared, he remembers the fear in those bright blue eyes as she looked up at him, at all of them standing over her in full armor.  He’s almost grateful that her eyes are closed now, features relaxed in death the way he remembers they’d looked when he finally talked her into resting after a hard battle.  After all she did for them, she deserves to rest now.

It seems wrong to leave her exposed for the scavengers, animal or sentient.  She’d been as near to being a vod as any natural-born could be, and she deserves the dignity of a burial, he thinks.  

Aure takes off his bucket and sets it aside.  It doesn’t feel right to look at her through his HUD for this.  Gently, he picks up her body, cradling her gently in his arms.  There’s a little hollow at the base of a tree next to the stream, and he carries her over and lays her out there.  Carefully, he arranges her robes and crosses her hands over her chest, tucking her braid over her shoulder and smoothing it out.  He takes her lightsaber, takes the crystal from inside - even though he doesn’t know why - and tucks it into his belt pouch before he lays the casing at her side.

The dappled light through the leaves is pretty on her too-pale skin, and he thinks she would have liked to stay here for a while.  She’d said as much when they made camp, that this is the sort of place she’d love to live in, when the war was over and the Order -  _ traitors _ \- didn’t need her anymore.  She’d climbed up into the top of the tree and sprawled on one of the branches, grinning down at him when he told her that her Jedi calm didn’t do anything for  _ his _ blood pressure, and could she  _ please _ get both feet on solid ground.  She’d jumped, and he instinctively reached out to catch her, but she’d landed with both feet solidly planted on the ground.  Her laughter still rings in his ears, and he shakes his head.

There are plenty of rocks around, as they’d complained together about, and it doesn’t take him long to build a suitable cairn over her body, protecting her from scavengers and the elements.  Once he’s finished, he takes a small, flat stone and his vibroblade, and he carefully carves her name and the symbol of her Order, so she’ll never be forgotten.

After he places it on top of the cairn, he steps back to look at it for a moment.  The flowers are falling from the trees on the gentle late spring breeze, and he sighs softly.  It’s beautiful and peaceful; it’s the kind of place she’ll be able to rest.  

“Suum ca'nara, Rán,” he says quietly, before he goes back to his 

**Author's Note:**

> Suum ca'nara - the state of blissful rest and peace
> 
> In Mandalorian culture, gray is the color for mourning a lost love.


End file.
